Bahrain to imprison 32 women, girls

Tue Sep 27, 2011

The Bahrain regime has sentenced 32 women and girls, who were arrested for protesting against the recent parliamentary by-elections in the Persian Gulf kingdom, to 15 years in jail.

These Bahraini protesters, including seven minors aged between 12 and 15, were arrested on Friday, one day before the by-elections — boycotted by the opposition — to replace 18 lawmakers who resigned from the parliament in protest to the crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.

According to Amnesty International (AI) the women were tortured in detention and they have been denied access to their lawyers and families.

AI says the girls remain in custody despite a Bahraini juvenile court order for their release.

On Monday, Bahrain’s Military Prosecutor-General Yussef Fleilfal announced that the kingdom’s military court had sentenced another 32 people to 15 years in prison for taking part in anti-government protests earlier this year.

Bahrainis have been holding anti-government rallies since mid-February, demanding an end to the Al Khalifa dynasty’s 40-year rule.

Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of others have been arrested in a brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters in Bahrain, which is home to a huge American military installation for the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf.